Thompson airlifted to hospital after fall described as 'real bad accident'

A relieved Joel Thompson is recovering from a terrifying end of season accident in which he is believed to have hit his head on rocks while partying.

The Manly forward took to Instagram to detail his ordeal after celebrations at the Koori Knockout went wrong, resulting in him being rushed to a local hospital on the Central Coast.

Joel Thompson was airlifted to a Sydney hospital after suffering a head injury.Credit:AAP

He was then airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital.

The back-rower, who is off-contract at the Sea Eagles but is expected to formally announce a new deal soon, was one of a number of NRL stars who attended the Koori Knockout over the long weekend.

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The annual tournament featured players such as Andrew Fifita, Cody Walker and Josh Addo-Carr.

Thompson didn’t play as he recovers from a broken arm which ruled him out of the finals series.

The 31-year-old posted a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed in a neck brace and with tubes connected through his mouth.

It included a caption which read: "Hey everyone I’ve had a real bad accident — won’t be talking to anyone for another week. Big lesson learnt around drinking and partying... Thinking of you all."

The NRL conducted a welfare check with the Sea Eagles on Wednesday night and were of the understanding it was nothing more than an accident.

Thompson was one of a number of standouts for the Sea Eagles in 2019 as they charged into the second week of the finals before controversially losing to the Rabbitohs after Jake Trbojevic was sent to the sin bin.

Thompson has cultivated a reputation as one of the NRL's best off-field ambassadors and won the prestigious Ken Stephen Medal in 2016 and was again Manly's nominee for the honour this year.

He is also a huge mental health advocate and has leapt to support fellow Indigenous stars such as Latrell Mitchell after they were subjected to racial abuse online.

Thompson featured in 22 matches for the Sea Eagles this season and has represented the Indigenous All Stars on six occasions throughout his career.

He is likely to earn another berth in the same side for next year's clash on the Gold Coast.